Nikolaus Harnoncourt The Complete Sony Recordings brings together for the first time Harnoncourt s complete recordings from 2002-2015 with his Concentus Musicus Wien, the Wiener Philharmonike, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Symphonieorchester des Bayrischen Rundfunks. The Sony Classical edition features his famous symphony recordings of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Bruckner, alongside his celebrated performances of great choral works such as the Verdi, Brahms and Mozart Requiems and Haydn's Die Schöpfung, as well as Mozart's opera Zaide, Haydn's Orlando paladino and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Also included are previously authorized but unreleased recordings of J. S. Bach s Cantatas Nos. 26 & 36, Beethoven's Christus am Ölberge and Dvorák's Stabat Mater.

Based on Voltaire's tragedy, this is a story of innocence wronged, set against a backdrop of Turks at war with Syracuse. Amenaide, the daughter of Argirio, leader of the senate, is in love with the exiled knight Tancredi. Argirio offers Amenaide's hand in marriage to Orbazzano, the leader of a rival faction, as a token of reconciliation. Amenaide resists this, and sends a letter to Tancredi, who has returned to Syracuse and is in hiding. The letter is intercepted, and it is mistaken as an invitation to the Turk Solamir to enter Syracuse. All are appalled, even the disguised Tancredi. Amenaide is sentenced to death for treachery, but Argirio allows a champion to fight for her vindication. Although still believing her guilty, Tancredi (still disguised) does so. He bests Orbazzano, saves Amenaide, and sadly prepares to leave Syracuse for good.

This new, excitingly original production of Mozart's most popular opera was the sensation of the 2006 Salzburg Festival. "What young director Claus Guth has made of Figaro - with Harnoncourt's active collaboration - is genius … The stellar cast performed with power and precision …" (Le Monde). "…a fully rounded musical performance…By and large the opera could hardly be more strongly cast. Anna Netrebko is a dreamy, vulnerable and beautifully sung Susanna, and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo's smouldering Figaro is a really macho rival to the Count.” (Gramophone)

Composed for the Carnival season in Verona in 1735, Bajazet is a ‘pasticcio’ opera based on the familiar story of the eponymous Turkish sultan’s imprisonment at the hands of the Tartar tyrant Tamerlane. As such, it openly uses arias by other composers, including Hasse, Broschi and Giacomelli, as well as re-cycled pieces from Vivaldi’s own operas (L’Olimpiade, Giustino, Farnace, Semiramide and Montezuma among them). But this is no mere patchwork of recycled numbers. All the ‘borrowed’ arias are expertly placed within the dramatic fabric of the work and are held together with richly composed recitatives. What we end up with is the best of the best in terms of Neapolitan-style opera – tuneful, virtuosic and passionate. Virtually every number in this recording is a highlight. What really lifts the recording is the quality of the performances. There are no holes or flaws among the experienced cast.

With Anna Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann bringing rare erotic intensity to the drama of Carmen and Don Jose, this Royal Opera production is a darkly passionate reading of one of the world's favourite operas. Under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano, Bizet's irresistible score drives the tragedy forward - powering a landmark staging of a musical masterpiece.

Verdi's opera Attila takes as its starting point Attila’s plans to storm Rome with his army of Huns and the Romans’ attempts to prevent him. As with Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi spiced up the action with a number of patriotic choruses, guaranteeing that – against the background of the Italian movement for unification – the opera was a great success. 'Michele Mariotti owes much to the fact that this evening became a celebration of voices' (Opern-Kritik). Ildebrando D´Arcangelo is 'perfect for the serious Verdi roles', Fabio Sartori has a voice of immense brilliance' (Opern-Kritik), 'Simone Piazzola was an impressive Ezio' (theoperacritic.com) and 'the real warrior of this Attila is the soprano Maria Jose' Siri … with her voice, touching each primordial sentiment in every note of the opera, she commanded ‘Attention’ from everybody' (La Repubblica).

LA Opera's latest production of Verdi s Macbeth (2016) features Plácido Domingo in the title role and Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Lady Macbeth. The opera is staged by Darko Tresnjak, who won a Tony Award for his direction of the Broadway musical A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder.

With her sensational role debut at the Vienna State Opera, superstar diva Anna Netrebko displays a performance of rare vocal and dramatic power. The Russian soprano sings the role of the unjustly accused second wife of British King Henry VIII, ‘veering between indignant fury and tender righteousness’ and demonstrating a new level of confidence in her technique with excellent ‘passagework, particularly in trills, and seamless runs even to the lowest notes’ (Opera News).

Anna Netrebko once again triumphed at the 2006 Salzburg Festival with her winning portrayal of Susanna in Claus Guth's new production of Le nozze di Figaro, the highlights of which can be heard on this spectacular CD. Led by conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Vienna Philharmonic, this production of Figaro garnered critical acclaim: "Guth and Harnoncourt have opened up a new perspective on an opera that is normally staged as a lightweight, turbulent farce," wrote the Zeit Online, while Die Welt described Harnoncourt as "a sorcerer able to conjure up magical sounds."

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary.
Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary.
Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

Handel Arias is the solo debut of one of the most exciting bass-baritones of today. Expertly advised by Baroque expert, Francesco Lora, Ildebrando fashions his debut album into a panoramic sweep of Italian Handel arias for bass-baritone. Mixing well-known and rare, lyric with highly virtuosic, Ildebrando’s phenomenal Handel shows the versatility and wide range of Handel’s compositions for bass-baritone and the vocal capacity of the singer to master this programme. Undeniably appealing to all voice and Baroque music lovers, this album will excite music lovers well beyond.

Bianca e Falliero has enough fine music to get the blood boiling, the toes tapping, and the hands clapping. It is strong in rhythmically exciting pieces and showy, virtuosic singing, both of which are in ample supply in this performance. Jennifer Larmore gets through Falliero's music with incredible aplomb and a truly handsome tone. Majella Cullagh's Bianca is just as technically fine as Larmore's Falliero, and she, too, pays close attention to expressing her predicament. Contareno, Bianca's cruel father, is sung by the exciting, accomplished tenor Barry Banks, who seems to understand that Rossini occasionally uses high notes and difficult roulades as expressive weapons. The others in the cast don't let us down. David Parry conducts with an inner tension that keeps the listener riveted. (Robert Levine)

On this 3-CD album Claudio Abbado brings to Figaro, Mozart's "sublime mixture of wit and melancholy" (Stendhal), "a keen sense of rhythm and texture and a very keen ear for orchestral detail" (Gramophone), with Cecilia Bartoli "ideally cast", an "enchanting" Sylvia McNair, and Cheryl Studer giving a "totally radiant performance"(The Penguin Guide).

Giorgio Strehler was one of Europe’s most celebrated theatre directors. In his Piccolo Teatro in Milan he created outstanding interpretations of Bertolt Brecht and William Shakespeare. As an opera director he worked at all the major international opera houses, most notably the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, where he was responsible for productions of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (1971), Macbeth (1975) and in 1980 for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. This legendary production of Mozart’s masterpiece is now available as a 2006 recording, featuring the wonderful Diana Damrau as Susanna and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Figaro.